"Fly (Reimagined)" by The Upsiders
Review
You may recollect (and I hope that you own) The Upsiders' 2018 debut album ‘Songs From All Corners of the Universe'.
If so, you'll hardly need reminding of the song "Fly" which appears upon it. You may however be a little surprised to learn that the band's new single (out today) is "Fly". Yes it's the same song.
But not however the same track. Sufficiently popular to remain in their set years on, despite the significant expansion of the original material in their set thanks to the ‘Reconnect' project, the passage of time & the evolution of the band's lineup has left its mark on "Fly" which now sounds significantly different live to the recorded version.
In a bid to alleviate any consequent confusion amongst the audience, The Upsiders have therefore reimagined it (i.e. re-recorded it in the fashion they now play it)
Inextricably linked with this initiative is an accompanying video and this in fact is the key to understanding more of this decision.
Do you recollect that 'Fly' was licensed to feature in promotional material for Coventry University Online Enrolment to inspire students for years to come? Therefore the fact that the video was created by students at the university as part of their portfolio is far from insignificant. And the band get a classy promotional artefact at the same time. Credit to the videographer team who are: Tianna Perini (producer), Paula Marmolejo (the director), Carmen Martín Guarino (editor) and Natalia Bandera Vidal is the camera operator.
You do need to see it, so you can find it right here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_0xJHpT_X0
I don't know about you, but not only do they chronicle bits of urban Coventry nicely, but even more impressively, they capture accurately the very nature of The Upsiders. The group must be pleased to bits with that.
Produced and mixed by Ian Todd (who has joined the group since the original recording) at Turtle Leaf Studios from discrete tracks recorded by each latter day Upsider, the artwork is by Ryan Middleton who also offered the observation (as they originally wrote the song) that maybe "New Shoes" by Paolo Nutini sparked the song off: which in hindsight I suppose can be understood but "Fly", especially reimagined, is wholly what the band want to say. It should inspire potential undergraduates, while Paolo's song, regardless of its plenty of merits, doesn't tackle that sort of issue. Essentially "Fly" epitomises the Upsider take on life (although ‘Reconnect' necessarily took them into some gloomier areas in order to produce the eventual resolution). It lifts you up and cheers you up in both formats and encourages forwards, confident & optimistic progression. Just right for grey December days.
